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Curriculum Vitae

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Selected publications

From product to service: navigating the transition

At an IMD Discovery Event in April 2013, 75 participants reflected on the challenges of building a service-centric organization, discovered some of the best practices of leading companies and networked with their peers. Executives left better equipped to navigate the transition from the increasingly commoditized product landscape to one offering value-added services.

Waste-based business models for resource recovery

Waste-based business models for resource recovery could be the solution to the sanitation challenges of low and middle income countries. This is the research aim of the Tr iple R Project (Resource, Recovery and Reuse), which is analysing the factors of business success in this industry.

An agenda for service research at the base of the pyramid

Purpose – The article aims to combine research priorities in the service domain with the emerging topic of service management for the base of the pyramid (BoP). This combination allows us to construct an agenda for service research at the BoP.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses bibliographic methods for structuring the BoP contributions, and a literature review for the current research priorities in the service domain.Findings – First, the paper highlights the main topics in the emerging BoP debate. Second, the paper constructs a research agenda for service management at the BoP. This agenda can guide service researchers in the selection of feasible empirical fields, support them in finding appropriate research designs, and finally, help them to develop suitable theoretical perspectives.Research limitations/implications – Limitations arise from the literature review and bibliographic methods themselves.Practical implications – Service research on the BoP provides new ideas for practitioners interested in learning about BoP markets, strategies, and entrepreneurial initiatives.Social implications – Understanding the need to explore BoP activities is fundamental to working with a huge segment of society, not only as passive consumers, but also as genuine entrepreneurs capable of creating and managing “inclusive” innovations.Originality/value – The research agenda for future service management offers a relevant source of ideas and guidance for interested researchers to rethink their empirical fields, research approaches, and theoretical perspectives.

Evaluating of distribution models for household water treatment products in Kenya

Marketing trials for ceramic filters and other HWTS products were carried out in Kenya over 16 months. Community education trainings and sales models were set up at four different sites with local entrepreneurs, Community Health Workers of the Public Health system, Community-based Organizations and staff of NGOs. Selling filters through the water utility, a community-based enterprise, was the most successful retail model, followed by sales done by Community Health Workers. Evidence showed that community-based organizations need to be equipped with adequate management and marketing skills to successfully sell products. Community education through household visits (independent of the stakeholder carrying out the activity) was an effective marketing strategy. Emotional attributes, social norms, if people think it is important to treat the water and education level had the highest influence on the frequency of household water treatment in households.

Evaluating distribution strategies for ceramic filters in Kenya and Bolivia

Determining how to optimally market ceramic filters and other household water treatment and safe storage products (HWTS) is crucial to the promotion of safe water use. Trials were conducted to test four different distribution strategies to find out which works best in different local contexts.

Business model innovation in the water sector in developing countries

Various technologies have been deployed in household devices or micro-water treatment plants for mitigating fluoride and arsenic, and thereby provide safe and affordable drinking water in low-income countries. While the technologies have improved considerably, organizations still face challenges in making them financially sustainable. Financial sustainability questions the business models behind these water technologies. This article makes three contributions to business models in the context of fluoride and arsenic mitigation. Firstly, we describe four business models: A) low-value devices given away to people living in extreme poverty, B) high-value devices sold to low-income customers, C) communities as beneficiaries of micro-water treatment plants and D) entrepreneurs as franchisees for selling water services and highlight the emergence of hybrid business models. Secondly, we show current business model innovations such as cost transparency & cost reductions, secured & extended water payments, business diversification and distribution channels. Thirdly, we describe skills and competencies as part of capacity building for creating even more business model innovations. Together, these three contributions will create more awareness of the role of business models in scaling-up water treatment technologies.

Blue Diversion: a new approach to sanitation in informal settlements

The sanitation concept ‘Blue Diversion’ (www.bluediversiontoilet.com) was developed as a possible answer to the sanitation crisis in urban slums. It is based on two main elements: (1) diversion of urine, feces, and water at the source as the basis for efficient resource recovery, and (2) linking different scales (family toilets and semi-centralized resource recovery). Our objective was to develop an attractive ‘grid-free’ (i.e. functioning without piped water, sewer, and electrical grid) dry urine-diverting toilet, which provides water (through recycling on-site) for flushing, personal hygiene (anal cleansing and menstrual hygiene), and hand washing. This service, including the entire sanitation value chain, should eventually be made available as a profitable business with total user fees of 5 ¢/p/d. The results presented in this paper are (1) a toilet design model, (2) the development of a new type of membrane bioreactor for treating flush and wash water, (3) main results of a geographic information system-based stochastic service model to link the family-scale toilet to a community-scale Resource Recovery Plant, and (4) a business model that yields maximum profit for the local community. We conclude that the approach is feasible, but challenging from a technical as well as an organizational point of view.

What service transition? Rethinking established assumptions about manufacturers' service-led growth strategies

Both academics and practitioners emphasize the importance for product firms of implementing service-led growth strategies. The service transition concept is well established, namely a unidirectional repositioning along a product-service continuum—from basic, product-oriented services towards more customized, process-oriented ones—ultimately leading to the provision of solutions. We challenge this service transition assumption and develop alternative ones regarding how product firms should pursue service-led growth. Using 'problematization methodology', and drawing on findings from thirteen system suppliers, we identify three service-led growth trajectories: (1) becoming an availability provider, which is the focus of most transition literature; (2) becoming a performance provider, which resembles project-based sales and implies an even greater differentiation of what customers are offered; and, (3) becoming an 'industrializer', which is about standardizing previously customized solutions to promote repeatability and scalability. Based on our critical inquiry, we develop two alternative assumptions: (a) firms need to constantly balance business expansion and standardization activities; and (b) manage the co-existence of different system supplier roles. Finally, we consider the implications for implementing service-led growth strategies of the alternative assumptions.

Absorptive Capacity (of Organizations)

A firm's competitive advantage originates increasingly from absorbing external knowledge. Absorbing external knowledge and the underlying learning processes are referred to as a company's absorptive capacity. In this article, we outline research trends on absorptive capacity. We apply a bibliometric analysis to describe the concept's historical development, define the intellectual core of the absorptive capacity concept, and discuss recent conceptualizations. Then, we identify two prominent streams in the absorptive capacity literature and provide a new approach on how to integrate them. Finally, we provide an outlook on possible themes in future research on absorptive capacity.